Stomping Ground Into The Wood: Whisky Barrel-Aged Barleywine

Stomping Ground’s barrel-aged Into The Wood series has seen the brewery quietly forge relationships with local distillers and their latest takes them to Bakery Hill. Well, not the literal Bakery Hill in Ballarat where the Eureka Stockade took place, but rather the well-regarded Melbourne distillery, known for their single malt whisky.

Pouring with a golden and amber hue, even though Whisky Barrel-Aged Barleywine might be a 10 percent beer, its colour makes it resemble a classic American pale ale. So too does the beer’s slight notes of pine and resin thanks to the inclusion of Centennial and Amarillo hops. But right there is where any similarities between a pale ale and this barleywine end, with it instead bringing together a complex mix of fruit cake, biscuit, molasses and port-like notes in a rich beer filled with a warming level of booze.

Published August 23, 2021 2021-08-23 00:00:00